Website Review - Formula 1.com

Guest Author - Christine Blachford

The official website of Formula 1 used to be a bit of an archaic place to visit. There was some information there but it was hard to find, the design wasn’t particularly exciting and it left a lot to be desired. Considering the highly technical and design orientated sport Formula 1 is, it seemed an odd way for the official website to behave.

Thankfully, the brains behind the site have decided a revamp is in order and that’s just what they’ve done. First and most importantly, it looks a lot better. All the basic and most recent information you need is listed somewhere on the homepage, and the navigation is very simple to delve deeper behind the scenes.

The main reason for visiting the official site is the live timing. If you can’t get to a television or radio in time to hear Free Practice, Qualifying or the Race, then you can watch the timings on the internet. In fact, in our household, we use it as well as the regular channels so that we can always be on top of what’s going on. The drivers are listed with whoever is fastest or in the lead at the top, and then in descending order down the page. As the laps are done, the page updates with the new information and drivers are often swapping places up and down the list. It’s up to the minute information to enhance your Formula 1 viewing.

Now, the website has more news and press releases and they are very accessible. There are plenty of archives for you to browse through with articles dating back to 2003, and race results information dating back to the 1950s.

My favourite part of the website is the gallery. There really are hundreds of pictures to look through, and given the official status of the website, there are many behind the scenes shots that you wouldn’t normally see. You can search for your favourite driver, browse by race, or click through the years from 2002 to the present day. There are pictures of testing and launches plus other F1 events.

All in all, there is not that much more added content, but it is presented in such a nice and refreshing way that it does feel like there is more on the site. I do think it would be enhanced by providing video footage of weekends, especially given how tight the copyright rules are enforced by Bernie Ecclestone. Just this week he has cracked down on YouTube clips of the British race. If you’re not going to let other people put up videos, it really should be one of your priorities to provide them with it somewhere else.